Humanist Hypnosis: The Art and Path of Lucid Waking Dreams

Introduction

Everyone dreams.

We all have dreams whose memory often fades, yet whose meaning remains open to interpretation and mystery.

Dreams belong to the realm of the unconscious and speak through symbols.

But more than symbolic, dreams are lived experiences — felt adventures that stir the body and the heart.

We have all, at least once, woken suddenly in the night — startled, sweating, breathless, joyful, sad, or disoriented.

Who hasn’t kept in mind a strange dream, a recurring nightmare, or a vast nocturnal adventure?

In every case, dreams reveal a powerful creative capacity that lives in each of us.

Dreams occur mainly during the REM (Rapid Eye Movement) phase of sleep — a stage discovered in the 1950s by Michel Jouvet and William Dement.

Beyond ordinary dreams, there exists a fascinating phenomenon known as Lucid Dreaming — in which the dreamer becomes aware of dreaming and can actively create or control the unfolding dream, while remaining asleep and conscious at the same time.

Lucid dreams fascinate because they give the impression of crossing the screen of one’s own night, to shape and transform it freely — like a film director composing their own movie in real time.

But what happens when this lucidity awakens?

Lucid Dreams: Science and Mystery

Stephen LaBerge, Lucidity Institute Stanford University

According to Stephen LaBerge, founder of the Lucidity Institute and researcher at Stanford University’s Sleep Research Center:

“During REM sleep, the events we seem to experience in dreams arise from patterns of brain activity that in turn produce effects on the body and the peripheral nervous system.

These effects, though modified by the conditions of REM sleep, remain close to those produced during wakefulness.

If not for the muscular paralysis of REM sleep, we would literally do what we dream we are doing.

This may explain why we so often mistake our dreams for reality: for the brain processes that construct our experiential model of the world, dreaming of seeing or doing something is equivalent to actually seeing or doing it.

The very existence of lucid dreaming challenges traditional beliefs about ‘sleep’ and its supposed limits on mental activity.

In a sense, the paradoxical nature of lucid dreaming mirrors that of the peculiar state we call REM sleep.

If the discovery of REM broadened our concept of sleep, the evidence linking lucid dreams to REM demands a similar expansion of our concept of dreaming — and perhaps of consciousness itself.

Lucid dreaming may well be the most paradoxical phenomenon of paradoxical sleep.”

It appears that REM sleep is a dissociative state, in which consciousness and the unconscious operate independently — a state also found in traditional forms of hypnosis (Classical, New, and Ericksonian).

In other words, during REM sleep, the conscious and the unconscious communicate without fully understanding each other — like two languages speaking at once.Humanist Hypnosis, by contrast, seeks to bring them into conscious union.

A similar form of amnesia occurs in both traditional hypnosis and ordinary dreaming.The opposite happens in lucid dreams — and in Humanist Hypnosis — where the memory of the experience often remains vivid and persistent.

Creative Awake Dreams: A Paradoxical Awakening

Such states can also emerge in deep meditation or in Humanist Hypnosis.

The imagination becomes a field of experimentation — a place to replay, understand, and create.

When a person enters a trance that unites the conscious and the unconscious, they become a conscious actor and creator of their symbolic representations, all while remaining aware of being awake.

This state is known as an Extraordinary State of Consciousness, or Heightened State of Awareness — a Paradoxical Wakefulness, the daytime counterpart of paradoxical sleep.

The difference: it can be self-induced or guided at any moment of the day.

The concept of the Heightened State of Consciousness is the foundational principle of Humanist Hypnosis.

In this state, the use of personal and unique symbols — the inner language of each “traveler” — enables concrete, conscious action on oneself, often with immediate results.

Like REM sleep, the Paradoxical Wakeful State gives rise to dreams — but lucid and awake ones.

Ultimately, Humanist Hypnosis is one of the keys to accessing Awake Lucid Dreams — Creative Lucid Dreams.

Those who regularly explore this state become Lucid Awake Creators, aware of shaping their symbolic inner worlds.

Three Myths to Dispel

1.    “Everyone can control their dreams instantly.” — Not exactly.

Lucid dreaming requires training and persistence.

Many methods exist to gradually strengthen one’s ability to influence dreams, yet these remain unguided, spontaneous experiences dependent on the conditions of sleep.

By contrast, access to awake and creative lucid states through Humanist Hypnosis is almost immediate — though the first experience may feel both simple and unusual, as if awakening a dormant capacity within oneself that needs to be tamed.

2.    “Lucid dreams bring answers.” — Not necessarily.

Lucid dreams are controlled, solitary journeys — but they are not connected to the unconscious.

Humanist Hypnosis, on the other hand, offers guided lucid and awake dreams that unfold in association with the unconscious.

It is like an expanded consciousness, a kind of super-awareness devoted to self-understanding.

3. “It’s about seeing strange things.” — No, it’s about understanding them.

As with dreams — lucid or not — Humanist Hypnosis allows one to explore the unconscious by speaking its language: symbolism.

The essence of this approach is to explore one’s inner worlds consciously, to transformation.

Unlike ordinary dreams, whose symbols are often abstract, obscure, or confusing, the symbols encountered in Humanist Hypnosis are clear, conscious, and immediately meaningful — and always relevant to the process itself.

Possibilities and Practical Applications

Beyond the exploration of inner worlds, the creation of a dialogue between self and self, and the awakening of creativity, Humanist Hypnosis is a powerful tool for internal structuring — for anyone seeking deeper self-understanding and alignment.

One of its most valuable therapeutic and coaching applications is the creation of a personal space, a resource place, a secret garden, accessible anytime and anywhere.

Beyond the exploration of inner worlds, the creation of a dialogue between self and self, and the awakening of creativity, Humanist Hypnosis is a powerful tool for internal structuring — for anyone seeking deeper self-understanding and alignment.

One of its most valuable therapeutic and coaching applications is the creation of a personal space, a resource place, a secret garden, accessible anytime and anywhere.

This inner place of resources contains both conscious and unconscious strengths.It becomes a base camp for all therapeutic or coaching work — a mental sanctuary that fosters independence and gives each person a tool they can use daily.

A true inner map of one’s world, this resource place uses imagination to generate a safe, peaceful space.

Through regular practice, guided by the therapist or coach, this exercise builds a mental refuge — a place one can revisit at any moment to restore emotional balance, regenerate energy, or soothe pain and overwhelm.

→ See our related article: “The Resource Place — a Powerful Tool for Everyday Life.”